Cardinal imposes its will in early-season lesson

STANFORD - The Pacific women's volleyball team ran into a buzz saw, making a competition that counted seem like an exhibition on Wednesday at Maples Pavilion.

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By Jagdip Dhillon

recordnet.com

By Jagdip Dhillon

Posted Sep. 5, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By Jagdip Dhillon

Posted Sep. 5, 2013 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

STANFORD - The Pacific women's volleyball team ran into a buzz saw, making a competition that counted seem like an exhibition on Wednesday at Maples Pavilion.

The No. 2-ranked Stanford Cardinal dominated the Tigers in a 3-0 sweep by scores of 25-14, 25-11, 25-14 in front of 1,570, including players from the Cardinal football team.

Stanford, with its loaded lineup, seamlessly executed every facet of the game. The Cardinal (2-0) was superb at the net, putting a hand on nearly every Pacific attack in amassing 12 blocks, while holding the Tigers (3-2) to 23 kills and forcing 23 errors (.000 hitting percentage).

"We wanted to do well, but we went up against a team that was more physical and we learned a good lesson about not letting anyone intimidate us," Pacific coach Greg Gibbons said. "They took us out early. They have a great team there and we helped them out, too, by not being as aggressive as we needed to be."

Little worked for Pacific on offense, as it repeatedly hit into the outstretched hands of Stanford's massive block. The Cardinal stymied sophomore opposite Kat Schulz, whose six kills led the Tigers to go with six errors.

"Their defense was phenomenal," Schulz said. "We were a little startled at first, because it was our first big match and, hopefully, we'll learn from it."

Stanford coach John Dunning, who was Pacific's coach from 1985-2000, admitted it still seems strange coaching against his former school, even while notching his eighth consecutive win against the Tigers since 2001.

"I have a lot of feelings for both places," Dunning said. "I love UOP and I'm happy that their team is getting better every year. I love having them on the schedule."

Pacific will have to recover quickly as it heads to the Portland State Tournament, where it will face fellow NCAA Tournament hopefuls in Oklahoma, Utah State and the host Vikings.